by C. C. Ekeke
Connie Ishibashi: Connie was a grad student at University Missouri St. Louis struggling with her density intangibility parties. She was only attending grad school because it was what her parents felt she should be doing. But attending the therapy sessions with Dr. St. Pierre and meeting Greyson changed her life. Being part of Heroes Anonymous was another high point, using her powers to help others. In the short time the group was together, they became a second family to Connie. She made a pass at Greyson, which he ultimately turned down due to his relationship with Lauren. However, once the OSA went after the group, Greyson rescued her first and tried to get her out of town. But Connie ultimately returned to help Greyson against Hurricane.
The Controller: The Controller was a powerful telepathic supervillain active in the 1990s up until the mid-2000s. He was a longtime archrival of the Midwest Miracles and occasional foe of the Vanguard. He also was part of the Lethal Alliance for a short stint in the late 1990s. Controller was an urbane type of villain who was very touchy about manners amongst his peers and adversaries. The Controller used his abilities to make others his pawns to do the dirty work for him. The Controller’s name lives in infamy after he brainwashed legendary hero Paragon and set him loose on downtown Chicago. This led to thousands of deaths and the murders of nearly the entire Midwest Miracles’ roster. He was eventually caught and now spends life in prison within an ultra max prison beneath the Atlantic Ocean.
Creed Samuels: Creed is an entertainment reporter for SLOCO Daily. He has a cynical view of the world, which comes out in his movie reviews and entertainment scoops. San Miguel becoming a new entertainment hub thanks to OWE’s film operations has helped boost his cred. Creed is not a fan of Helena Madden and her management style, as the two do not get along. He is close friends with Jono McGowan whether he wants to be or not. Creed is also close friends with Quinn Bauer and one of few co-workers he considers a genuine friend away from work.
Cyberpunk: Joven Santos is a member of the Extreme Teens of Filipino descent. His gold bodysuit covered in cybernetic cables and dark circuitry is actually integrated into his body due to a serious car accident. This has given him enhanced physical abilities, advanced weapons, and top-tier hacking talents.
Dallas Dunleavy: Dallas attends Lewis Middle School and is AJ Malalou’s best friend. He is also the younger brother of Abby Dunleavy.
Damian Hazard: Damien Hazard is a crime boss who operates in San Miguel. He is a long-time adversary of Geist. Hazard has enhanced strength and durability. He is known for his expensive suits and speaking in a polite, soft, and articulate manner while dishing out brutal violence to get his point across. It is implied in Generation Next that he possibly murdered one of Geist’s earlier vigilante partners.
Damocles: Greyson Hirsch is a supervillain operating under the name Damocles. He was not a naturally born super human, but attained his powers when he and his dad traveled to Alaska to witness the Aurora Borealis. However, this was the same day as the Soviet nuclear bomb striking Alaska. Greyson and his dad survived with no noticeable health defects. However, Aaron Hirsch’s health slowly deteriorated due to radiation poisoning. What made the situation worse was the arrival of Titan. Greyson was a huge fan of the hero. But the reveal of Titan’s origin was what eventually caused Aaron Hirsch to hate not just all superheroes but his own son for putting them in that position. No amount of doing well in school or behaving himself at home could earn Greyson his father’s love again. Greyson showed no health issues as he grew older, but in his late teens/early twenties, his powers of gravity control and nuclear emission emerged. His mother helped him cover up his powers even from his dad. Eventually, when he began dating Lauren Gerard, he told her about his powers and she helped keep them secret.
After Titan’s death, Greyson finally sought help to control his powers following a violent altercation with his father (who expressed glee over Titan’s demise). This led Greyson to Dr. Richard St. Pierre, a psychiatrist who specialized in helping supers control their powers. Greyson was skeptical, but the benefits were immense. Not only could he control his abilities, but he started fresh with his dad.
At some point, Hurricane was severely injured by Excessive Menace. Greyson found out Hurricane’s identity when he needed to train in St. Pierre’s warehouse to blow off some steam, and found the injured hero inside and unmasked.
From there, Hurricane and his fellow patients took on the roles of heroes to stop Excessive Menace. The roles were short-lived after a very public mistake cost many lives. Greyson then kept a low profile as the authorities searched for Heroes Anonymous. But due to a series of unfortunate events, Greyson found himself on the run and going to his dad for help, only to be cruelly rejected. Greyson finally snapped and murdered his father brutally. He then came face to face with Hurricane in the home of the former’s parents. Even though Greyson had the power advantage, Hurricane’s years of experience tipped the battle in his favor. But the return of Connie Ishibashi turned the tide. Greyson, blaming all his current problems on Hurricane, murdered him in cold blood. After he and Connie went on the run and left St. Louis, Greyson eventually saw all heroes as the problem and has plans to destroy any he can find.
Daphne El-Saden: Daphne El-Saden (née Savalas) is mother to Briseis, Theodora and Ramses. She was born in Greece’s Macedonia region among its Muslim population. At one point before she got married, Daphne competed in beauty pageants around Greece and was the runner-up in the Star Hellas (Miss Greece) pageant. That loss never sat well with Daphne, who felt she should’ve won. Daphne gets very insecure around her daughter Briseis, whose beauty is exceeded hers, and feels like she is in constant competition with the girl. She will make digs at Brie’s weight which had damaged their relationship over the years and given Brie an eating disorder. Brie calls her mother Mumu, aka Miss Universe of the Mentally Unstable. Daphne thinks MUMU is a nickname and has no idea it’s an insult.
Dave Packer: Packer is the Head of Ad Sales at SLOCO Daily. He was brought in around the same time as Helena Madden to transform this regional newspaper into something more. Between him and Helena, SLOCO Daily grew into a national news site that covered so much of what was actually happening in America. At the same time, Packer is arrogant, entitled, and gluttonous for power. He can treat some of his employees like minions, and others like attack dogs. He encouraged a culture within his department of entitlement, arrogance, and to take resources they need despite their importance to other departments. He has a weekly ad sales department where news divisions pitch his team-sponsored project ideas. Packer loves the role of kingmaker, just like he loves using his position to sleep with subordinates despite being married.
Deborah Alvorada Michelman: Deborah is Spencer’s mother and a native of Brazil. She is currently in jail for unspecified crimes. Only Hugo, J-Tom and Briseis know the truth outside of her family. Everyone else believes the lie that Spencer and Rowan’s mother abandoned their family.
December: December was a member of the Vanguard during the famous Sensational Seven era. He was best friends with Titan up until his death. December was rumored to be the more scientific brains on the Vanguard during his time on the team, helping them solve issues that they couldn’t blast or punch their way out of. He possesses cryokinetic powers and covers his body in an icy sheath to protect his identity, at times creating slick ice paths to speed skate across the ground and move faster toward targets. December kept his identity a secret from everyone except his teammates and a few other members of the superhero community. He retired as a superhero in the mid-2000s and rarely makes public appearances since then.
DeDamien Harris: DeDamien Harris was a student athlete on Paso Robles High’s varsity basketball team. He was also close friends with Baz Martinez, ex-boyfriend of Jordana Buchanan and an enemy of Hugo Malalou. A cruel and arrogant boy who used his size to bully others and get what he wanted, DeDamien took pleasure in tormenting Hugo and Simon. He went as far as beating Hugo severely (pre-powers) with Baz, Cody Banks, and TJ Kim a few day
s after the end of his ninth-grade year. After the incident at Paso Robles High’s Fall Fling dance, DeDamien had to have reconstructive surgery on his knee and may never play basketball again. DeDamien’s parent’s fearing for his safety, moved him to Templeton High School nearby.
Defenders of Crescent City: DCC are the main superhero team in New Orleans, each of its members from a different ward in the city. They face a mixture of regular criminals, supervillains and more supernatural threats. At times DCC will handle threats in Baton Rouge an hour away.
Devon Strauss: Devon is an agent of the OSA, and college friend of Quinn Bauer and Annie Machado from Brown University. Born and bred in West Texas, Devon joined the army after graduating college and was recruited by the OSA a few years into her service. She and Quinn had been estranged until recently.
Domino: Carmit Bendavid is one half of the vigilante duo Blackjack and Domino. Bendavid was a former IDF agent during the Iraq War, which is where she met her husband Blackjack. For an undisclosed reason, they became street-level vigilantes operating in San Francisco. Their initial objective, based on bad intel, was to take down Geist for a crime he didn’t commit. But after clearing up the miscommunication, Blackjack and Domino decided to stay and join Geist’s war on crime. Domino is great at intelligence-gathering and espionage due to her background with the IDF, using Krav Maga, Kali, and Kung Fu.
Dorit Hirsch: Dorit is the mother of Sara and Greyson Hirsch, as well as the wife of Aaron Hirsch. She has lived in St. Louis most of her life, settling in the suburb of Creve Coeur. Dorit has struggled to hold her family together since the traumatic Alaska incident, which compromised her husband’s health and caused a rift between him and her son. She learned about Greyson’s superhuman powers when he was in his teens and had an outburst that caused a car accident. Since then, she has protected his secret as well as possible from her husband and daughter. She was relieved when Greyson began dating Lauren Gerard and trusted her with his secret. Now she and Sara are coping with the fallout of losing both her husband and son after the events of Monsters Among Men.
The Dread Doctor: Dread Doctor was a virologist and disease expert in his former life, using these talents to terrorize the citizens of San Miguel with toxic upgraded variants of plagues long thought cured. He usually dresses in long dark robes and wears masks akin to the Venetian plague doctor mask. Dread Doctor’s minions usually wear garb matching those of the Carnival of Venetian. They are known as the Carnival of Dread. He and Geist have battled for years, with the vigilante trying and failing to end his reign of terror for good due to police interference or the Dread Doctor always using human shields.
Geist did kill the Dread Doctor sometime in 2015, only for a new Dread Doctor to emerge. Undoubtedly, someone new took up the mantle to carry on his predecessor’s work.
Dynamo: Ramon Dempsey is the inventor of the Dynamo armor, which he wears to combat criminals on the Vanguard. Dempsey was a child prodigy who graduated MIT at age 10 and built the first Dynamo armor at age 11. This drew the attention of the Vanguard, who recruited him after some initial reservations. Due to his age and being paraplegic, Ramon being Dynamo had to be hidden from the press. For three years, many thought that Dynamo was a robot. Ramon also provides technical support for the Vanguard as well as continues to upgrade his armor. However, after Titan’s death, Ramon’s teammate Morningstar was revealed as the murderer. She had manipulated Ramon into learning more about his armor, and tried framing him when her original plan of framing Lord Borealis fell through. After that, Ramon retired as Dynamo and focused more on building technology to better the world.
The Elite: This team of superheroes were created and genetically upgraded by Paxton-Brandt in order to cash in on the superhero industry. Initially, the Elite were commissioned by the OSA as a backup plan if the Vanguard ever when rogue. But after Titan’s death, Paxton-Brandt decided to further develop this team into a marketable franchise. These six costumed individuals each represent a different mythology.
Thor is the leader, built like a Viking and resembling the god of Norse myth. Apollo also resembles his Roman namesake, his powers solar powered. Nike looks every bit an ancient Greek warrior in her bronze armor, wielding twin short swords. Nike is a speedster. Morrigan was clearly the pin-up bombshell, an homage to the Irish goddess who can split into three Morrigans. Vishnu, bald and blue-skinned, with four arms and a scantier outfit than even his female teammates. He represents Hindu mythology. Samson has loose curly hair that reached waist-length, like his Biblical namesake. He is the powerhouse of the team, his raw physical strength rivaling and possibly surpassing Titan.
ERAT: Emergency Response Action Team, another term for superhero team. In the United States, even if an ERAT is corporate-sponsored or independent, they still need to be sanctioned by the U.S. government. ERATs function as part of each states’ National Guard with certain rules of engagement on how they approach disasters, rescues and even criminals. More often than not, ERATs will assist on disaster relief/rescue, or hostage situations too dangerous for the local law enforcement. ERATs normally avoid engaging non-superhuman criminals unless absolutely necessary to contain loss of life.
Excessive Menace: A young supervillain operating in St. Louis that came into conflict with Hurricane. The lineup includes Brickhouse (superhuman strength), ShocKing (electrokinesis), The Illusionist (plasma illusion casting), and Mr. Silk (heightened agility, enhanced strength). They would post videos on social media promoting their brand of violence and villainy, #BeatupAndBreakYour Heroes. After they severely injured Hurricane, Excessive Menace came into conflict with the superhero team Heroes Anonymous and was defeated. They are currently in a supermax prison for their crimes.
The Extreme Teens: The Extreme Teens are America’s most popular teen superhero team, who do a mix of superheroics, movies, reality shows, and music under the OWE umbrella. Teen superheroes put OWE on the map and the Extreme Teens is just the latest in their media machine. No teen team has reached the popularity levels of the Extreme Teens. OWE created the original team six years prior around Missy Magnificent and Blur when they were thirteen years old. After Missy unceremoniously quit the team around 2017, the team has continued to evolve and switch through members. The team is technically a national team, but they operate in or around the Central Coast of California. They currently have a massive franchise of films, which include the 3D Mission Experience films and the Impossible Girl series. Their latest hit TV program is the Extreme Dreams reality show focusing on the teammates’ lives beyond the missions and promotional events. The current roster includes Blur as team leader, Sunrider, Vendetta, Cyberpunk, Starchylde, and Roadblock.
Ezra Michelman: Dr. Ezra Michelman is father to Spencer and Rowan. He is a very successful and very wealthy geneticist working for Paxton-Brandt. While he adores Rowan, he harbors clear contempt for his eldest daughter Spencer for unknown reasons.
The Fab Phenoms: The Fab Phenoms are a dance crew founded by Hugo Malalou, Simon Han, John “JT” Torres, Zachary “Groban” Levy, Wale, the Stanley Twins, and Grace Misawa. They had been together for a few years born out of a mutual love for music and street dancing. But the group became so good that they were actually battling other dance crews at dance battle tournaments. Hugo briefly left the group after his father’s death. But after the events of Monsters Among Men, he rejoined. The crew has currently returned to dance battle tournaments.
Freedom’s Ring: This is a corporately sponsored superhero team operating out of Philadelphia. They are very American/patriotic-themed in their names and costumes.
Gabrielle Santos: Gabby was a super who worked with Presley Lau as a fixer for the highest bidder. She was quiet and soft spoken, a fitting match with her superhuman abilities. Gabby could make herself and anyone she touched invisible for prolonged periods.
Geist: Geist aka the Midnight Son is a street-level vigilante active since 2010 in San Miguel. He has no powers, but Geist battles the everyday criminals often forgotten by heroes like Tit
an and Lady Liberty. Using vicious combat techniques, his batons, and his guns, Geist has proven very effective against San Miguel’s underbelly. He also employs a strict “Two Strikes” policy against the worst criminals (murderers, rapists, etc.). One offense gets them thrown in jail. A repeat offense gets them six feet under.
Geist’s fighting style mixes several martial arts, including: Eskrima, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Karate, Boxing, Jujutsu, Sambo, Taekwondo, Shurikenjutsu, Bōjutsu, Ninjutsu, and Jeet Kune Do. He is also highly proficient in grappling and pressure points strikes. By mixing and combining the many disciplines he knows, Geist can throw off any foe trying to study and anticipate his attacks. Through intense training, Geist has trained his strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, and coordination to the natural pinnacle of human physical prowess, roughly exceeding that of an Olympic level athlete.
Aside from his vicious fighting style, Geist happens to be an effective tactician when approaching any battle. But, since nature abhors a vacuum, Geist’s presence in San Miguel has given rise to a more dangerous rogues’ gallery like the Dread Doctor (his greatest rival) and Damian Hazard, to name a few. During his years active, he has run afoul of many heroes, Sentinel especially, who do not approve of his crimefighting approach. However, Titan took a liking to Geist and the two became close friends. On occasion, Geist, Titan, and Lady Liberty would team up to deal with grave threats to San Miguel.
Geist has also been known to team with other street-level vigilantes like Domino and Blackjack, and became a mentor to both Longshadow and Ballistic. Geist has also become a mentor to Hugo Malalou aka Aegis. Before that, Damian Hazard hinted at having murdered one of Geist’s earlier partners. The San Miguel police at first viewed Geist as a threat and pursued him for a number of years. But recently, due to a massive cleanup in San Miguel PD and new leadership in the SLO County Sheriff’s office, local law enforcement is now an ally to Geist.